Brad Kalbfeld, AP journalist and author of the Associated Press Broadcast Style Book, joined our class today to talk about the historical aspects of journalism and how it has changed/evolved in today’s world.

Check out his Bio here.

Kalbfeld showed us what a laptop and cassette player looked like from the 1980s — very bulky compared to today’s MacBook Pro standards. His next laptop upgrade was only able to show 4 lines of text at a time on a tiny screen.

Using analog, expensive and slow technology with a very limited number of people having access to it is a thing of the past. Now, there are a variety of multi-purpose gadgets that have made an incredible leap in technology from the past to the present. Things like the iPhone have made it possible for anyone to have access to telecommunications.

With this increase in technology, Kalbfeld notes that many of the traditional “filters” are beginning to decrease — nowadays, an article can be uploaded directly to a reader without having to pass through a variety of  editors.

There is often so much information floating out there that the reader/viewer is in charge. The implications of this is that the content can change, and the reader can now choose the news they want to read rather than having the news coming to them.

Kalbfeld says that in the journalism world, it used to be that people from a relatively uniform background made the calls. Now, the newsroom is more diverse than ever, representing a variety of different points of view.

When asked about citizen journalism, Kalbfeld noted that there is good and bad that comes with it. Citizen journalists can provide a level of coverage that professional journalists sometimes cannot. Some traditional journalists are scared of citizen journalists, because of their ability to appeal to the public. Kalbfeld believes that journalists need to find the balance for weighing editorial standards the same for both professional and citizen journalists. However, often citizen journalists do not understand how the camera can lie and manipulate stories, in addition to incorporating unwanted bias.

For better understanding news sources, Kalbfeld reccommends reading the “About Us” section on news websites. As a consumer, judging for yourself where the information comes from is very important.

News used to be a one-way field. Now, there are so many opportunities to interact with the audience. With the addition of the Internet, journalism has become increasingly participatory.

Kalbfeld says that in the end, journalists must be aware of ethical issues. This is critical for any good journalist!